Electric turbo chargers

[Mitsuru]

Remember when you used to here the phrase "Electric Turbo/super Charger" and laughed
at was basically a pc cooling fan inside a pipe before the throttle body!

Well this topic came up over on the neons forum with something new
Thread here http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=411511

http://www.phantomsuperchargers.com/

[mr rusty]

Well there's an overelaborate and complicated alternative to an air-scoop if ever I saw one!

[Mitsuru]

Apparently the F1 cars use something similar to wind up their turbos at the start before
the exhaust gas takes over. I suppose there are a few advantages of a kit like this.

There air that goes through a standard exhaust gas driven turbo gets heated by the turbo
it's self because the turbo is heated by the exhaust gas that drives it, and electric one
wouldn't be!

No interfering with the exhaust manifold or trying to squeeze a turbo in a tiny space next
to exhaust and engine. But you will need space somewhere in the car for the battery.

No turbo lag?

Think of the LPG kits when they first came out, and look at them now. I think that only
time will tell of how this product will develop and how reliable it will become.

[TerryG]

For £2k you could turbo pretty much any car. Why would you use a full throttle only temporary "super charger"? If F1 cars use one to spin up a turbo for a quicker start, that is one option, the other is to rev your car a bit to spin up the turbo.
As a proof of concept it is interesting, as a real production item, it is severely flawed.

[SirTainleyBarking]

I've heard of these before, a good few years ago. IIRC it was a supercharger out of a Hino truck, fitted with a high torque big motor, and tried out in a suzuki SJ410 by one of the regulars on the ORRP board.

Upside, almost instant insane levels of boost

Downside: Took a hell of a lot of current, and could kill the standard battery very quickly. The standard alternator won't keep up. Needed to have a couple of HD batteries in the load bed.

Sounds like a nice idea, and can work, just a bit of a problem on the practicalities. THere are simpler, lighter, cheaper and more reliable ways of doing this

[Mitsuru]

It maybe expensive now, and there maybe cheaper alternatives available at the minute.
But you have to agree it is something to keep an eye on as it has moved out of the realms
of the ideas and what ifs and into a basic if expensive production model.

And I do agree it will need a lot of work before it becomes a real alternative to the standard
exhaust or belt driven alternative.

[Phil P]

It's a bit self defeating. You would need the extra power to compensate for the weight of the batteries and the power consumed to drive the alternator to charge them. Perhaps a small electric motor to spin up a flywheel that uses an electric clutch to engage and zap up the turbo to give a big boost as you floored the throttle and dumped the clutch. The normal turbo boost would then take over. That's probably not a new idea.

[mach1rob]

What a faff! Twincharcher option is the way to get over any lag.

[JPB]

What a faff! Twincharcher option is the way to get over any lag.

Ain't no substitute for cubes! Lots of them, lovely cubes. All of which, I'm reliably informed, is Americanish for a f'kin big engine. Preferably compression ignition, preferably two stroke and definitely V8.

[TerryG]

No idea how many "cubes" this displaces but it is a cool thing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmnsXTMLzCE&feature=kp

A nice big V8 and 4 turbo chargers is definitely a good way to go, possibly with NOS. a 440 big block should just about squeeze in to my range.....